Invited to Inishbiggle Island

YouTuber Bertie Brosnan posted a video a few days ago about Inishbiggle Island, off the coast of Ireland. (See Video Here) The name of the island sounds very whimsical like a place you would read about in a fairytale, but its story is anything but cute. It is an island with less than 20 inhabitants now and according to Bertie it is one without hope. He says that the Irish government has washed its hands of it and its people. How could this be happening? The whole world is ablaze with news stories and protests about the plight of thousands of immigrants who have made their way to just about every country on the planet seeking shelter and a new life. Billions of dollars have been spent on trying to help and accommodate them, and a great many people are angry to find them living in their countries. I honestly do not know how the world will be able to solve this crisis, but I am pretty confident that there are many people who would know how to save the island of Inishbiggle and it’s inhabitants if they were willing to look into their left-wing philosophies regarding how countries and governments across the globe have made an incredible mess in their world by focusing only on their own self interests. I have a few suggestions for the people who speak daily about how we need to do away with inequality and capitalism by remaking the world with socialism. My views are strictly the product of years of caring and observing people and the world. Expert minds in the fields of sociology and economics would probably be able to write the book on how to save Inishbiggle Island from a total demise. I am counting on that, if they are also believers in socialism and Marxism and communism. Here is their opportunity to start from scratch to remake a place that capitalism no longer wants and turn it into a place where cooperation and sustainability can be the model for the world to see.

When you watch the video, you will see that transportation from the island to mainland Ireland is a critical issue that has to be addressed. Where most countries have been digging their own graves for decades by their dependence on fossil fuels, I am certain that there are some very learned people out there who know a solution for how to solve the issue of being able to commute to the mainland in the most sustainable and eco-friendly way. Billionaires who own private islands have managed to power their estates and travel to and from their mansions. Can we not do the same for the socialist model city that we would be seeking to create? Someone once accused Senator Bernie Sanders of being the only millionaire socialist in the world. I don’t know if that is true but I can tell you if he is not alone in that it would be helpful if they would put some of their money where their mouth is. It usually takes a person who has experienced poverty to comprehend that it is even a problem.

The possibilities here are endless if the people who teach and promote better living without capitalism truly mean what they say. We can spend the rest of our lives trying to convince the “haves” in this world to step down from their pedestal and acknowledge the “have nots” by talking until we are blue in the face but where has all the talk and statistics gotten us since Karl Marx died? Bertie Brosnan is showing us an incredible starting point for all of our socialist ideals to manifest into a reality. There is no reason why some people who understand the dynamics of how to set up a society that can govern itself and sustain itself to the benefit of all can’t put their knowledge and skills to the test of what they are truly capable of when a place like Inishbiggle Island exists and is as available as an orphaned or abandoned child to be rescued and given the opportunity to live and thrive in a way that so many of us wish we could experience. Time on earth for humans is short, and when all of our talk and conjecture about how wonderful this life could be isn’t manifesting because our voices fall on too many deaf ears there has to be someone or someones to step up and say “we can do this” or our talk has been for nothing. Bless you Bertie Brosnan for showing a need that really can be addressed and built into the very model of what can be if we will put out less talk and more action into the things that we have been promoting and saying for more than a century. If you truly want to see a change, be that change and make it happen. Inishbiggle Island is waiting.

“I don’t know where I'm a-gonna go when the volcano blows.”

-Jimmy Buffet

When you think that things just cannot get any worse here in America, you realize that they absolutely can on November 5th, Election Night 2024. The dreaded day when we will learn just who the Electoral College and wealthy campaign financiers will allow this country to have as our President again. Will it be Biden or Trump? We already know that they will not allow a 3rd party candidate to be the first snowball in hell to survive, so it is down to some sort of repeat of what we have already had, and the outcome will affect more than just Americans.

Will you put your money on the Scorpio, Biden, or the Gemini, Trump? Strictly speaking I would choose the Scorpio because they are at least theoretically capable of great depth of feeling somewhere in their makeup. I know what you are thinking. Show me where the depth of feeling was when Scorpio funded and supported two ghastly wars that have affected the entire planet one way or another. Why not choose the Gemini instead? Well, I cannot in all good conscience do that when it was the Gemini who thought it would be a good idea to inject ourselves with bleach to get rid of Covid 19, he believes that the fictional character of Hannibal Lecter was a great man, and reportedly said that we should drop a bomb inside the eye of a hurricane.  I watched the Presidential Debate last night and I can tell you that my money is still on the Scorpio, Joe Biden, for reasons that may be viewed differently by others, but they are valid ones for me. 

These are dreadful times in America. I wish that I could say that they are recent developments here, but they truly are not. I have never seen any US President in my life do everything that they could have to solve the many problems that we have here. It takes a large amount of ego and high self esteem to motivate a person to run for the highest level job in the country. Anyone who is sure enough of theirself to run for the office is usually going to carry that belief in their ability into every decision that they make, and this is nearly always a recipe for an exaggerated response to any challenge to their superiority and authority, hence, the largest likelihood for a screw up is usually going to come in their decisions concerning foreign policy. I am rarely 

surprised at how easily our government gets us into wars. Biden has proven to be no exception to that. And while it pains me to see the tragedy that so many people are experiencing right now for that reason, I cannot look at that continuation of an ego centric mindset that happens to come with the territory to base my final thoughts on their reality as a whole person. 

In a previous post on this blog, I wrote about how to know what kind of character a person running for a political office is likely to have based on when they were born. In another post, I spoke about how Biden - Uncle Joe - really needed our help to deal with the fallout from the previous administration. To know astrology is to know that people are capable of great things and capable of terrible things at the same time. Each of us has to struggle with this duality in our nature but a large percentage of us don’t know, don’t understand, and don’t care to develop ourselves in the best ways to stay in balance with our inborn capabilities. I don’t expect that we will ever see a lot of altruistic behavior in a person who has very high career aspirations because the traits necessary to ascend to that do not include Mother Teresa like attributes. The one thing that I would always look for first in any political candidate is their capacity for empathy, and that will nearly always lead you to the Water signs. Most of our previous presidents have been Fire signs and Air signs. I would never say that they are unqualified to lead because they certainly can be, but the way that humanity has fallen off a cliff and descended in to hatred and barbarism in this century calls for emotional depth, understanding of human needs, and the ability to address the issues that have become alarmingly critical when people abandon their willingness to care for and understand the basic needs to sustain life to the point of denying us shelter, food, and healthcare. What are these particular times in human existence calling out for?

Are things so good for us that we should be focused on creating more ways to keep and maintain our finances and infrastructure? If they are, then I would be looking for the kind of people who tend to do well in that area. If there is illness and poverty (such as during the pandemic) I would look for those who tend more toward organization and sympathy for the sick. When I look at the differences between Scorpio and Gemini for the times that we are experiencing right now I am going to look toward Scorpio for the ability to “feel” the suffering of the people. There will be other times to come when Gemini’s abilities might be called for, but I don’t see that in 2024. I cannot say that Scorpio will hit the mark and do the right thing for struggling Americans every time. In fact, I know they won’t.  But I can recall many times during Biden’s term as President when he thought of the needs of the people when leaders before him couldn’t be bothered.

In the Book of Revelation in the Bible they talk about a future time which will be “the beginning of sorrows." I don’t know exactly when that started here but I can tell you that it has been going on for some time now. I can see no end to these sorrows for us because a change for the better would require a radical change in the way people think. When people believe that they are superior and entitled to a high standard of living at the expense of others whom they deem to be of lesser value it is not possible to rid the world of sorrow and pain.  This seems to be a lesson that many would like to delete from the human curriculum. Nobody has ever accomplished creating a balance in America between the haves and have nots in my lifetime, but I truly have seen times in the past when things were better than they are now. I will always be looking for that in this country, but it would require more of us to want it. So, I still stand with the Water sign that we now have because I still believe that this is badly needed.

I can tell you that I surely would love to be somewhere besides here when it all comes down in November but that just isn’t in the cards for me when you consider that it would cost a fortune to pick up stakes and just move around the corner now. As hard as I try, I cannot think of a country in the world where there isn’t as much or more trouble than there is here at the present time, and I really don’t know of any who would look favorably at another immigrant trying to cross their border, legally or not, even if I had the ability to leave. 

So, I know that the political volcano is about to blow here if we aren’t prepared to stop it.  There are 169 actual volcanos in America with the majority of them being in Alaska and Hawaii. The likelihood of all of them erupting at the same time is extremely unlikely, but what we will inherit from a replay of the previous administration will devastate this country as surely as if all 169 of them blew simultaneously. The fallout from a long history of mistakes and bad decisions from our government is already spewing out the molten ash of their poor choices so it is just a matter of time before we are all totally covered in it. I say all of us, but there will be some very rich and powerful elitists who will run like rabbits with all of their ruinous ideals intact to other countries, probably yours, if the political tide doesn’t turn to their liking, and they will start fresh new corruptions there. I would heartily suggest that you turn those refugees away at the border. Just take a look at how they will have left America looking like the battle of Armageddon the day after. We have many big troubles erupting all over the world right now but the choices that we have to lead us for another four years come down to Water and Air again. While it is unlikely that any human being can come in and save the day across the board for us, I believe in staying with the family the way it is right now because jumping ship in the middle of a storm is a dangerous thing to do when the captain of the other ship has already shown that he has no reservations about throwing people overboard on a whim and cannot be bothered to give a life preserver to anyone who is sinking as a result of his one sided policies that favor those who don’t even need help. If the volcano does blow in that direction, I don’t think that we have a prayer.

You can spend the rest of your life looking for that perfect person to lead the world to peace and prosperity for all but ultimately your only choices are going to be flawed human beings who may or may not have the capability to accomplish it. We may not have much of a say in the outcome in November but most of us cannot leave here even if our country appears to be a sinking ship. The best we can do is vote for the person who at least has it in him to change his mind about some things when he sees that he could possibly have been wrong about a few of them. 

When "Current Events" are Yesterday's News

 

When we have a problem that is continuously recurring or just will not go away it is nearly always one that we have failed (or refused) to deal with previously. There is a saying that if you do not remember the past then you are condemned to repeat it, but it is very easy to ignore that truth if you are in a position to push the problem onto others or buy your way out of it. Most of us are not fortunate enough to be able to do that so we tend to find ourselves as the recipients of the baggage that others force upon us because they can.

The above video is from 1984. A post could be written here about the synchronicity of that, but I will save it for another time. The music in the video is great and it is fun to watch. It is stand out comedic and puts a unique face on a dreadful thing, but the message is very real. Forty years ago, we were very afraid of possible nuclear war. Forty years before that, World War Two was raging across the globe. We already had nuclear weapons even then and the United States wasn’t afraid to, and actually did, use them. I think that most people learned a devastating lesson from that and thought better of going that route again, but I am not sure that the current generation received and took that lesson to heart.

Every day now I hear the word “genocide” spoken on someone’s news program or podcast, and I keep asking myself why is humanity allowing such a thing to happen? How is it that the people who are making and allowing a genocide to take place can be so disconnected from the horror of what previous generations have been through when elitism and hatred are allowed to take root in a society? Were they not listening when their parents and grandparents recounted what life was like in the times when death and devastation was being visited upon them? Why would we risk provoking something so terrible as the annihilation of our species just to get our own way in some selfish pursuit of grandiosity?  It did not work for the perpetrators then, and it isn’t going to work now without deep destruction of the planet. People who learn from their mistakes don’t make those same mistakes again. Games are being played with our very lives by people who couldn’t care less about it as long as they keep their wealth and advantage. Our attempts to rebalance the systems that govern us are failing as new elections in nearly every country are turning very hard right. Life will not be sustainable for the masses for much longer as we lose the ability to have shelter, heating and cooling, get and keep a job, and be able to buy food, and yet, few in power are inclined to give these problems a second thought.

There is no universal law that forces us to understand that we are here to experience the life lessons that we did not previously deal with and evolve away from. You can choose (and most people do) to ignore whatever you would like to in this life, but it is a surety that all unresolved past problems will be visited upon us again, and each time that they make a return cycle through our lives they will become worse and much harder to address. 

We are flirting with nuclear war again in 2024, and this time humanity is reeking of narcissism and a cavalier attitude about everything.  Championship boxer Mike Tyson once said “Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.” Someone is going to be provoked and pushed too far very soon by a way too sure of themselves bully. The power to blow ourselves to hell exists in many hot-headed and had-enough nations to see to it that a promoter of a “you can’t stop me” attitude has to shut up. The issues that were current and being talked about and reported on in the 1940s and in the 1980s have come back to haunt us. This time they are coupled with the fallout from our ignorance and refusal to address the social and economic problems that are a result of not giving a damn about and not taking responsibility for the actions of those who caused them. Our players have been set to “repeat” and we are damn sick of hearing the same pathetic songs that were never a hit with anyone other than those who wrote them and authored for us the fate that is closing in on us. We need to take the desire for peace torch from Joe “King” Carrasco and put a different song out there that admits that we cannot take any more of these “Current Events” and see to it that it plays all over the airwaves and the internet. Without that, expect to see more of the annihilation that we are witnessing.

Abbie Would Be Proud

In the late 1960s activist Abbie Hoffman wrote a book called Steal This Book. He had a devil of a time getting anyone to publish it because of its title but once it was published it was widely popular. The book is a guide to living in a heavily capitalist society for those who are being financially strangled by it every single day. His view is that the only way to rid ourselves of capitalism is to hurt the enablers of it in the only way that they can understand. You have to take away their profit. He explains many ways for a person to live virtually if not totally without using money. Some of the lessons are doable but many are (I thought) utterly impossible, especially now. Capitalism has a much bigger bite on society today, but I am hearing more and more stories of people doing so many of the things that Abbie wrote about that I have to wonder how many people are still reading his book today. It is available at many bookseller outlets more than 50 years later.

Whenever you order something from Amazon, Ebay or Etsy, and possibly other venues you have to wonder how many of those things are actually coming from a “Homeboy Shopping Club”. I frequently watch videos on YouTube by a fellow named Cash Jordan who reports from his home in New York City about all of the crime and troubles there. Many times, he talks about the enormous problem that they have with shoplifting. There are hundreds of news stories in his videos of people brazenly walking into stores and picking up whatever the hell that they want and just walking out with it because the shoplifting laws there are extremely lax. In the last year or so I have had the feeling that many of my online orders are being fulfilled by sellers who have obtained the merch by “five finger discount”.

My feelings are very mixed on this subject. On the one hand I can’t help but draw upon my upbringing when I was taught that stealing is wrong. I still believe that it is, strictly speaking. I have had my house broken into before. My computer was stolen. Locked boxes with important papers were stolen, and my jewelry was stolen. I was in no position to replace any of it. It seems a bit two-faced to say that stealing is wrong in some situations but not in others, I suppose, but I cannot help but feel that I am being robbed all of the time now with incredibly high prices that I am paying for everything while the manufacturers and sellers of everything that I buy are making obscene profits. So, I cannot actually feel bad about how people are stealing tons of merchandise in broad daylight when it is (possibly) their ill-gotten gains that many times offer me these items at a price that I can afford. Retailers aren’t doing that and they are completely unapologetic about how outrageous their prices are.

We are encouraged to feel badly for these retailers who are closing their stores because of theft. Truly, I do feel bad for small businesses and family-owned stores. If this is their only source of income then that really is tragic. I used to have an Etsy shop where I sold custom made clothing to supplement my income and it was extremely helpful in making ends meet until I started getting customers who would say that there was something wrong with the item but would refuse to return it to get a refund. They wanted their money back but refused to send the item back which isn’t standard practice anywhere that I know of. If you want a refund at Walmart, you have to return the item. When the buyers didn’t get to “have their cake and eat it too” they would leave snotty reviews which ruins your shop’s reputation. Eventually it ceased to be a lucrative business and ceased to be fun. It is too bad, too, because the first 2 - 3 years that I had the shop there were many very good customers who bought from me. I miss them.

So, it is a tough call in today’s world to get irate with people who are “boldly going” and stealing thousands of items from high end stores or just stores with high end prices when they are (most likely) just people trying to get by in this world and make a living by “robbing the rich to help the poor”. I am the poor now that everything that I need to survive costs me double and even triple the amount that it used to. Good old Abbie Hoffman advocated stealing back when prices didn’t even approach what they are now, but it was his view that capitalists rob from the poor to enrich themselves and the only way to stop it is to destroy their bottom line, which is profit over people. I wish that Abbie was here now. I would love to hear his opinion on how much stealing is going on today. No one likes being stolen from but it is far worse for the average person just trying to live a decent life. The wealthy can absorb the hit. They can get reimbursed by their insurance company. I cannot afford insurance. They can write the loss off on their tax returns. My tax return looks like “poverty row” now. Large retailers have many other stores. I can’t even have my Etsy shop anymore. So honest to God, I and millions of others need a Robin Hood advocate in this world now. And we still need an Abbie Hoffman to speak out loudly about the injustice of the capitalist system. It needs to go.

Built-In Software

In 1981, ABC Television had a show called That’s Incredible which ran an episode about May Lemke and her foster son Leslie. It was a very touching episode about how May took in an infant boy who was blind, brain damaged, and not expected to live. (see the YouTube link below) After many years of caring for Leslie, who could do virtually nothing for himself, May bought a second hand piano for him to try to engage him in some activity in case that was possible. Sometime later, (miraculously) Leslie woke May and her husband up in the middle of the night playing a piano concerto. He could barely even walk but he dragged himself out of bed and crawled into the living room and up on the piano bench. Unbelievable as that may sound, the impossible can truly be possible where the spirit is concerned given the right circumstances and the right combination of support from other humans and the encouragement to experience something new. Miracles are also possible in this existence for animals, plants, and virtually all living things if people get out of the way and stop forcing egotistical outcomes. Few people are allowed this in their lives. The majority of us are trained from birth to do as we are told and if we don’t fit into the assigned mold that others want us to be in - to make putting up with us easier for them - we can be classified as useless and discarded. Thank God that May Lemke didn’t see it that way.

The spirit within us is a magical thing. It is like electrical current going through an inanimate object. When a radio or a television is connected to electricity it brings to life sounds and images that would have blown the minds of people who existed prior to the 20th century. Benjamin Franklin showed us how to harness unbelievable power that we have never stopped using. There are more miracles to be found in the lifeforce, but they mostly remain untapped by humans. Discovering those miracles takes the right set of circumstances and an open mind. Unfortunately, most people are preoccupied by selfish pursuits, so you rarely see miracles today. 

After you watch the video try to step aside from yourself and your worries and concerns for your everyday life. You can make miracles in your life if you allow yourself to hear the higher mind that is within you. Sometimes the voice is almost imperceptible but if you are willing to listen, you can create some wonderous things in this life just by having the courage to take a chance.  Few things make life more worthwhile than having made a difference and realizing that you and others may have that same chance with your willingness to allow it.

May Lemke passed away in 1993 but Leslie is still alive at 72 years of age as of this writing. A relative of May’s took over his care. While we ignore the sick and the needy every day in this country it is disheartening to know that each one of those lives that we have viewed as disposable could have contributed to the betterment of life and made a unique difference in the world. Each of us has value. Taking the time to allow and discover what each of us has to give is one of the finest things that we can do in life. Everyone is here for a reason. Finding your own reason and passing that along to others will see to it that more have a chance to recognize the best in themselves. Be glad that you are here. You are capable of making a difference that no one else can because there is no other you in the world.

“Kids Just Wanna Have Somethin’ To Do”

-from the song Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue by The Ramones

Believe me friends, my use of the above titled song and the quote from it are NOT an endorsement of glue sniffing in any way, shape, or form. That is not what I do. My intent is only to make a point regarding how some people do not understand how a society would not collapse and die if every citizen received a basic income from the government equal to a living wage. The argument that I hear from people regarding giving us a basic income is that “nobody would ever get up off their ass and work again.” I think that is baloney and I have said so here on this blog many times before. There is one issue that does have some validity that is that there are some who would stay at home glued to their computers and smartphones schmoozing on social media sites all day without a care in the world, but that situation is one that I will address in a forthcoming post. It will require a bit more analysis. It may be true that there are some people who couldn’t care less about the world they live in. I would never say that everyone presents their best self to the world every day of their life. It is too bad that they choose to be this way when even the slackers have something positive to contribute to their world, but you won’t see something that you refuse to look at. So yes, there would be some who wouldn’t see the benefit in making a better world for themselves or anybody else but try to set aside for the moment how some morons would be thrilled with a perceived “free ride” in the world. There is little hope for those who adopt a mentality of uselessness.  If they don’t want to understand the benefit to them and to their world by doing a job that would actually change their entire way of thinking about their own worth, we can do little about it except present an example of it in the way that we live in hopes of changing their perspective. Remove their behavior from your mindset for a few minutes. We have more important things to ponder right now.

If you are a parent, you already know that children, especially small children, love being able to help their parents with a task around the house. If you do not have children, it is a fact that you used to be one. You most likely remember wanting to be like mom and dad in that you wanted to help wash the car or work in the yard, etc. You wanted to be included. It is a very good feeling to know that you have accomplished something. You feel worth as a person, and it helps so much with your self-esteem to hear that you did a good job. This is the main point that I want to stress here. If your basic needs for living are being met with a basic income to cover them, you will still need to feel that you are needed in some way. Work provides that if it is work that you feel confident about doing. If it makes for a nicer, cleaner, and less chaotic world, all the better. I would be the first to admit that there are many jobs in this world that are not a lot of fun. Truly some of them are not as important as others but if you are an adult, you are wise enough to realize that they have worth in the larger scheme of things. I would also say that there are a lot of jobs that might fall by the wayside because their benefits are redundant, because there are hundreds of places that do the same thing such as multiple restaurants in the same town, multiple beauty salons etc. I do believe that most people are willing to delay a bit of gratification and do some of the crappy jobs to keep the world functioning in a balanced way. I think it would help if these jobs were part time. I also believe that it would be a tremendous benefit to the entire world if we stopped promoting glamour, sexuality, fame, and wealth as ideals. These things are the backbone of capitalism and advertising because it keeps people focused on striving for things that make a ton of money for them. To be effective, they must make you believe that you can be so much better than having to focus on those things that sustain and keep life going. I am counting on the fact that most adults are aware of what it takes to keep the world running in the best possible way for all of us and if they no longer have to experience the terror of being unable to live a safe and decent life or be constantly bombarded with messages of superiority, they will channel their energies into the tasks that make it possible to stay that way. Life is a gift. Food, shelter, and healthcare should be a human right, but in order to get and keep those things there must be gratitude for them and a contribution of your time and effort to maintain them. Karl Marx said it best, and though I am going to paraphrase here he basically said that we need to contribute to our society according to our ability and take from the world according to our need. A promotion of this ideal needs to be proffered starting in childhood and shown to us in a way that reflects it as our best selves truly are what gives us our best possible world to live in.

The above referenced song was written by Dee Dee Ramone in the 1970s. This was actually a part of his experience in life. A bored kid with nothing to do. Somewhere along the line he learned that he could sniff glue and it would keep him from being bored and give him something to do. I suspect that thinking like this, springs from overworked and overwhelmed parents who don’t have the time or the inclination to show an example of better pastimes than this. That happens way too much of the time. Capitalism does that. As overwrought as parents might have been at any time in history, we are now in situations globally where people are being mentally and emotionally destroyed. Our children are seeing this and also seeing that their future does not matter to us. If we don’t step away from the destructive path that we are on and try a different way of doing things there is little hope for us. Positive change is possible, and it can be done. It does start in the individual. Once you realize that the planet is falling apart and people are collapsing under the weight of a system that has far outlived its usefulness you can redirect your thinking toward propping up the people and promoting a better way. Beating them to death with capitalism is showing just how low we can sink under its dictates. If you can envision a better way you can take your vision to others and make it manifest. We can give people a reason to want to build up society instead of tear it down, but it has to start with a secure base. When people have that, it is unlikely that their first thought when they find that they have more time for themselves will be to “sniff some glue.” Keeping their better and more beneficial world will be the incentive to see that it stays that way. What would you do if you had more time for yourself? At first you might want to sleep late every day for a month. But then you are likely to get up and consider that you want to matter in this life. That is when you can begin to ask how you can matter in the shaping of your life and the shaping of your world. Manufacturing and maintenance of the world needs us to function. We ask for respect for being willing to do those jobs. With our basic needs met and the needs of the companies being met there is a level playing field for everyone and it is everyone’s best chance for understanding and equality in the workplace. What you do doesn’t have to be something that only benefits your employer in exchange for a small amount of money that they can deny you if they feel like it. This is what true freedom is. It is having a say in how you live and what you achieve. You deserve that. Others have sold you an ideal that benefits them more than it ever will you. It does not have to be that way. It is worth getting up off your backside for. And it is a good somethin' to do.

"Go Get a Job, Slob."

-from the 1970’s parody song, 50 Ways to Whip Inflation* sung by Judy Tenuta

In the 2010 Disney live action film Alice in Wonderland, the character Alice says that her father used to say that one should always try to do three impossible things before breakfast. Alice’s father has passed on by the time she becomes a teenager so we will never know if he changed his mind about that later, but as Alice still believes it, the movie can proceed with her actually trying to live by that goal, making for a more believable story. (maybe) I’d love to see if he would believe that getting a job in 2024 is possible or not. I count it as being damned impossible now for way too many people unless you can survive on gig work. Just two more impossible tasks to go and we would gain her father’s approval if we could pull it off.

On a side note, I must complain about Disney’s decision to prominently showcase Johnny Depp’s (he plays the Mad Hatter) picture on the cover of the DVD package of the above mentioned film and the later released film Alice Through The Looking Glass instead of Mia Wasikowska’s who plays Alice. There is no logical reason for this except to promote the highest money-making draw actor ahead of the actor whom the film is actually about, Alice. Pure capitalism, it is. (Yoda speak reference) & (money speak reference). It is also possible that it speaks of favoritism on the part of Tim Burton (Alice in Wonderland was a Tim Burton film) who has a long standing friendship and work history with Johnny Depp, but I tend to lean on the side of pure money making reasons for it.  That usually tends to overshadow every possible reason for every possible situation. Which brings us back to the issue of why getting a living wage for a life sustaining job is on the impossible things list. And while I cannot be sure of it without doing the research, I would wager a small (because that is all that I can afford) bet that Johnny was paid a salary for his work in the films that was many times higher than Mia’s.

So, why is it so difficult to get a job now? What are the reasons for it? Some people have proffered some very good explanations for it but I tend to feel that it is like Max Von Sydow tells the young priest in The Exorcist when the younger priest tries to tell him the background of the demon possession and how many demons that he estimates there are. He says “There is only one.” It is the “because they can” reason. They can deny you anything that they like regarding employment because there is no such thing as democracy in the workplace. There never has been to my knowledge but it used to be a little easier to ignore that fact if you were able to at least squeak by financially. Since that ability is pretty much gone with the wind now you really cannot ignore it anymore. I very much admire the people who are publicly raising hell about it but it is a fact that there are few of us who are in a position where we can join in the hell raising with them without losing even more of our livelihood than we already have. The risks are too great, and since employers know this and also know that our government representatives do not give one big damn about how bad off we are with few exceptions, this is how things are going to stay. Go ahead and scream your head off about it. No one intends to exorcise this demon. So, this is the second impossible thing that we need to do before breakfast.

I keep waiting to see this idiotic mentality jump up and bite the employers in the ass. It seems only logical that if the people cannot afford to buy what these companies produce or partake of their services, they would see the connection between their business practices and the hits that this has to be making on their bottom line. Maybe they do see it, but rather than rethink how what they are doing is destroying everything they somehow always manage to work around it. Most of the reason for this has to do with the fact that the majority of them have more than one business. A mom and pop business could never survive it but those who have multiple businesses can sacrifice a few of them to strengthen those that are still doing well. They can cut corners, get rid of some employees, give their remaining employees fewer work hours, and raise their prices on everything. They owe their employees nothing. Everyone is told that they must have a job anyway. Any kind of job, whether it pays you enough money to sustain your life or not. You must work, your spouse must work, and your children must work. Here is the third impossible thing that you are up against. You are going to get awfully hungry trying to accomplish all of these tasks before you get to eat. Most of us already realize that we just are not going to get any breakfast.

So now we know why it is virtually impossible to get a job in this country. In case you missed it, it is because the employer class is not being held accountable for not providing jobs that pay a living wage equal to the amount that it actually costs now to sustain life. They create the jobs. They set the prices for their products and services. They hire and fire the employees with no accountability as to whether or not a person will live or die based on their disconnected to reality whims. The ruling class turns a blind eye to their behavior and inhumane practices and our society crumbles as a result. The employer class makes lots of money. The ruling class makes lots of money, and they made sure to set up a system that covers their financial asses for the rest of their lives no matter how bad things get.

So who was Alice’s father really talking to when he said one should try to do at least three impossible things before breakfast? It had to be those people who are secure in the knowledge that they can even afford breakfast. He must have believed that he would live forever and guarantee that his daughter would always be provided for. He was wrong. That being the case, if he actually thought that far ahead, he must have believed that Alice would find herself a wealthy husband who would always make sure that Alice had breakfast. He would have been wrong here too. In the sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass, Alice and her mother nearly lose their asses and all the trimmings, but thanks to the magical thinking of the writers, Alice prevails as the Captain of her own ship and her own company and indeed does do the impossible like her father told to her to. This was even more impossible than anything for a woman in that time period. And she did it all without a husband! So, I don’t know who the hell her father was really meaning that endeavor for but it surely was not for a female in the 18th century unless he already knew that their story was pure fiction. Jump ahead to now, the 21st century, and it all makes sense. Capitalism did indeed manage to do three impossible things before breakfast. They set it up so they would always have the upper hand. They set it up so they would always have money. And they set it up so no one would hold them accountable for their behavior. They managed to do this even as they are an extreme minority in the world considering that the working class in this world outnumbers them by the billions. That is a stunning achievement to have accomplished before breakfast! And to have managed to do at all!

Feeling hungry? Now all we need is for Alice’s father to have a talk with the governments of every country on this planet and tell them that they will not get to eat until they do some “possible” things like turn this situation around and make the world that they live in a place where survival is possible for everyone. They might tell you that this is impossible, but don’t believe it. There are at least 50 ways to eliminate capitalism. That this hasn’t been done before now is a ‘problem that is all inside our heads.' “The answer is easy” if you recognize that you are not the only person on the planet who matters.

*a parody of the song 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon